Receiver Percy Harvin has caused no problems for the Jets since arriving in October. Coming soon, Percy will be causing a potential dilemma for the franchise.
According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Harvin won’t take a pay cut to stay with the Jets in 2015, when his contract requires a base salary of $10.5 million. While Harvin likely wouldn’t get that much on the open market (and given that the Jets may offer him more on a reduced deal that anyone else would pay him), playing for another team likely would mean enjoying a better quarterback situation.
Keeping Harvin would have a cost to the Jets beyond the eight-figure salary. If he’s on the roster at the start of the league year, the sixth-round pick the Jets will be sending to the Seahawks for Harvin becomes a fourth-round selection. That term works to Harvin’s benefit as much as it does to Seattle’s, since it forces the Jets to make a decision sooner rather than later.
If the Jets choose to move on, a third trade of Harvin since 2013 becomes possible, but not likely. Perhaps the Jets could be willing to take peanuts for Percy if that means not having to cut him -- and in turn to watch him walk to New England and power up the Patriots’ offense in a way that franchise hasn’t seen since Randy Moss was dumped back onto the Vikings for a disastrous three-week reunion in 2010.
If Harvin finds a home with the Patriots, if he performs to his potential, and if he causes no problems, it would be disastrous for the Jets. And possibly for every other NFL franchise.
